Comcast Offers Up Its Wi-Fi Hot Spots For Free To Anyone In States Impacted By Sandy

The spirit of goodwill toward our fellow humans in the wake of Superstorm Sandy continues to spread to big businesses. First AT&T and T-Mobile took a cue from the acts of generous individuals in helping out our neighbors by offering to share their networks for customers in the path of the storm, and now Comcast has announced it’ll offer up free WiFi to those in need in storm-ravaged states.

Come one, come all, Comcast said today, announcing that regardless of whether you’re a customer or not, you can access its Xfinity Wi-Fi hot spots in the states hit by Sandy, reports CNET.

Comcast operates 50,000 hot spots in public places around the country, but its service is usually password-protected for use only by its customers.

If you live in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire or Maine you’ll be able to tap into the hot spots free of charge. To find a spot near you, check the coverage map by clicking here.

From CNET:

To access the Wi-Fi hot spots, search for the “xfinitywifi” network name and click on the “Not a Comcast subscriber?” link at the bottom of the “Sign In” page. Then select the “Complimentary Trial Session” option from the drop-down list. Users will be able to renew their complimentary sessions every two hours through November 7, the company said.

It should be noted that if there’s no power in the area where’re looking for Internet, the hot spot for that location will likely not be working.

This free Internet access should come as a relief to plenty of people, as the Federal Communications Commission said yesterday that about 25% of cable customers are without service in 10 states after Sandy rolled through on Monday.